However, if you share the laundry soap or other supplies, the time-space percentage must be applied to determine the proportion of expenses that can be claimed as a business expense. For example, 100% of the cost of food purchased for children in the program can be claimed as a business expense. If an item is used ONLY for business, all of it can be counted as a business expense.

Time-space percentage is a calculation that home-based child care business owners use for budgeting and to determine tax lability.

Track all hours you work in your home (#3 above)Īll business owners work hours beyond their hours of operation and should be compensated for them! Be sure to consider all of your time when calculating the true cost of care.

Keeping track of meals and snack (and attendance at meals!) is required for CACFP participation and reimbursement for meals served.

Record all meals/snacks served to children (#2 above).

If there is no receipt, provide adequate documentation, such as a cancelled check, credit/debit card statements, last: written record or a photo

Save all receipts for expenses associated with your home (#1 above):.

Tuition, fees, grants, donations, any sales, other

It is important to keep your business and personal finances separateĪmong other things, business accounts keep business income and expenses clear, simplify financial reports and tax preparation.

In his video, the Top Three Record Keeping Tips for Family Child Care Providers, Tom Copeland identifies 1) s aving receipts for all household expenses, 2) keeping track of all the meals and snacks you serve, and 3) tracking all the hours you work in your home as practices that will make the biggest difference in reducing business taxes and assuring you are able to get all the deductions you are eligible for. Ultimately, all elements of the business are also tied to financial record keeping. Record keeping is essential to many components of your business, helping you to assure licensing compliance and safety, to track and predict enrollment and keep track of attendance, to assure timeliness of payroll and accounts payable, to assure the program has needed food, materials, supplies, and more. Keeping good records is foundational for operating a strong business. For many child care operators, financials hasn’t been a focus – tune up on financial management terms with the help of First Children’s Finance. In addition to the information included here, you can get a overview of what financial management incorporates by reviewing the financial management toolkits from Opportunities Exchange for both family child care home proprietors and center-based business operators or by exploring resources available on the NY Early Learning Hub. This section reviews the importance of record keeping and financial components of child care business management and provides tools to help you to operate a sustainable business.

Business income is primarily driven by family tuition payments for child care – grants and subsidies tend to be only available to programs, usually centers or school-age programs that are organized as not-for-profits. The cost of care is impacted by overhead costs of the rent/mortgage, insurance, personnel costs, the cost of materials, supplies and more. Planning for child care involves many decisions that impact finances, starting with business structure and contractual decisions regarding the cost of care. Types of Regulated Child Care in New York Stateįinancial management is the backbone of your business.

Monthly daycare expense spreadsheet